


The Right Choice

by Meeks1314



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Hurt Tony Stark, New Team, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Team as Family, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 05:35:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10915386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meeks1314/pseuds/Meeks1314
Summary: A reflection about Tony's life post-CACW. Includes a reflection then the formation of the new team while Team Cap watches and they wonder if they made the right decision. They didn't.





	The Right Choice

To be screwed over like that... everything suddenly made sense. After the panic attacks and panic induced vomiting, some clarity was achieved. This was just the biggest screw over from a series of screw overs delivered by them. Oh the thought of them makes him want to cry, punch them, tell them of the pain they caused, then ask them to take him back...but he won't do that. He can't let them know they got to him. All of the years when he gave 100% to what he thought was their friendship now seem to laugh at him and tell him what he now realizes is true- it was not a true friendship. True friendship requires love in action, and there was certainly none of that. An outsider might think all was well within the team before the cataclysm that was the Accords, and the offenders themselves might have also thought all was well, but all was NOT well. Everything was far from well for Tony. They treated him like a "friend of opportunity," only calling on him for something they needed or when they were desperate for company. Other times they ignored him and left him feeling alone and unwanted. When Tony was with other people that were not the Avengers, they all listened to him and valued him and they laughed at his jokes- like really laughed. No avenger ever hinted to Tony that they thought he was funny, and he previously always thought one of his best features was his funny personality. The guy could make the Queen of England laugh until she cried (this happened, and it was great for everyone involved). They made him feel like he had nothing to offer, and yet they took everything he had and gave it to them- both figuratively and literally. They literally took his money, his tower, and his equipment. They figuratively took his generosity, humor, confidence, and genius. They used all of those to their advantage. 

When it came down the final screw over, just to put salt in the wound, they tried to act as if they were innocent and their actions were justified. They'd always told Tony he needed to stop being selfish and think of other people, but they were the ones who greedily took everything from him and disregarded him and 117 countries. They blindly followed an old fashioned man who had the audacity to mistrust the combined efforts of 117 countries; a man who also mistrusted Tony, the one that gave him food, shelter, equipment, and everything else. The Avengers would not have been possible without Tony which is why they crumbled when they separated from him. 

The initial screw over was like a slap to the face- it hurt that they turned against him, the sting faded, but a handprint was left behind. However, the betrayal Tony felt when he discovered Cap- no, Rogers- knew about his parents, was like having a gaping hole in his chest, a feeling he understood. That hole could not go away- it was like the arc reactor, weighing him down and making it hard to breathe. The arc reactor gave off light, and The Betrayal shed light on the wrongs the team had thrust at Tony. The similarities between the reactor and The Betrayal stop there because the arc reactor kept Tony alive, whereas The Betrayal made him want to disappear. 

Words could not describe the panic Tony felt at the thought of seeing them again. The thought made his head hurt, the world would spin, and suddenly he'd see the shield coming down for his head then hitting his most vulnerable spot- the arc reactor. Sometimes, he wishes it would've hit his head or that he still needed the arc reactor to survive when the shield hit his chest, so that way he would've died in Siberia, and he likes to think Rogers and the rest of Team Crap might feel bad and realize their wrongdoings… However, he also knows they have their heads so far up their asses that they would never think that. He's glad he lived, because now he can rise above them. That's just what he does.

 

Tony's journey after Siberia is a rough one. He focuses on Rhodey and helping him so he doesn't have to face the cold reality of the hole left by his "friends of opportunity". He knows they were never really his friends at all, but he likes the term because it's somehow self-deprecating and a dig at team crap. By focusing on Rhodey and spending so much time with him, Tony gains some of his confidence back because Rhodey laughs at his jokes and loves him like a brother, and Tony feels it through love in action. Rhodey helps Tony heal and helps him to be better than he even was before. Rhodey has lost a lot at this point, but he refuses to lose Tony, so he holds on. Rhodey hold on to Tony tightly and doesn’t let him go because he knows that if he did let go, Tony might be gone forever. Rhodey joins Tony in the workshop now just to let Tony ramble and have someone to talk to other than the bots. Rhodey forces Tony to come to dinner with Mama Rhodes every week, and a new tradition is started. Every Monday Tony and Rhodey go to Rhodey’s childhood home and help Mama Rhodes cook a big dinner. Tony also ends up fixing and upgrading all the appliances in the house whenever he’s there too. Mama Rhodes supports Tony and loves him like a mother should. The Rhodes family ends up becoming Tony’s family, and he loves them.

Tony also starts spending time with the spider-kid. Peter is an awesome kid that adores Tony, and eventually, Tony comes to adore Peter too. They science and spar together and it's a beautiful mentorship. Tony ends up convincing Peter to intern at SI, and Peter comes to Tony’s lab after school 3 days week. At the lab, Tony and Peter work together on projects and throw around ideas, and eventually Tony becomes an almost fatherly figure to Peter, but Tony will deny this. It was hard for him to deny when he ended up going to all of Peter’s basketball games. He wore facepaint for the tournament. The press went crazy.

Tony and Vision have always had a bond because of JARVIS, but now Vision is suddenly very protective of Tony. Vision doesn't just protect Tony from people and villains, he tries to protect Tony from harmless things like the toaster because once Tony cursed at the poor toaster when it burnt his bagel so Vision pushed Tony to the side and destroyed it then smiled proudly and proclaimed he taught all of the kitchen a lesson. It was well meant and sweet, but Tony really liked that toaster. Vision bought a toaster later that day without a word. This toaster had a bagel setting so Tony would never burn his again. Tony liked this one better.

Doctor Strange was the first new member of the Tony Stark Defense Squad. He signed the Accords stating that it was only logical. He also added that he was a genius so his logic was correct. Tony and Strange got along immediately. Strange's cloak also liked Tony which was weird, but Tony loved the cuddly attention. Strange and Tony could banter easily about music and pop culture, but they also had highly intellectual conversations about mechanics meeting medicine. It was hard to keep up with the two geniuses. One day Strange walked in on Tony working on a strain of extremis that could slowly regrow and fix damaged tissue, and Tony nervously explained that he was working on it to help Rhodey...and Stephen. Tony could understand how awful it would be for Stephen to lose the ability of his hands because Tony needs his hands just like Stephen. Tony would feel lost without being able to invent and create. Stephen stared at Tony for a while and Tony tried to backtrack, but Stephen cut him off with a hug. The cape hugged Tony too. Stephen mumbled something about valuing Tony's friendship then made a joke and the banter was back to normal- the message was clear though. Stephen would be there for Tony. 

Bruce returned shorting after The Betrayal. He wasn't mad like Tony thought he would be though. Instead, he told Tony he agreed wholeheartedly with the idea of the Accords because he's always thought accountability was important. However, to Bruce, accountability meant that when the Hulk destroys something, it's Bruce's fault. Tony helped him see that wasn't the case. Accountability is being responsible for the things you can control. Bruce may not have liked Ross, but the Accords also didn't allow Ross anywhere near Bruce or Hulk, so all was well. The day Bruce got back, Tony invited him to lab and they fell straight back in to old science bro habits. It was bliss and escape for both of them.

 

When Team Crap saw Tony's first appearance on TV since Siberia, they were dumbfounded to see a whole squad of people behind him supporting him. They recognized some, but others seemed new. They saw the Spider-Man, Black Panther, Bruce, Rhodey, Pepper, Hope VanDyne, Happy, Stephen Strange, Thor, and a group of individuals that included a green woman, a normal guy, a tree, a raccoon, and a huge man standing proudly behind Tony. After the interview, in which they saw Tony happier than they had ever seen him, the tree said I AM GROOT, and Tony remarked that yes, they could have a group hug. The program shut off when the Tony Stark Defense Squad all rushed Tony and hugged him as he laughed with them. 

Later, smaller interviews were released with all Tony's new friends giving a piece of their mind about Team Crap and Tony. Pepper's account was especially memorable since she revealed what happened in Siberia. By that evening, countries were in an uproar. Protests were everywhere demanding that these fugitive Avengers turn themselves in to face punishment for their crimes. The fugitives could only watch as every person in the world turned against them, and they were left to wonder if they had made the right choice… As they remembered Tony’s smiling face in the interview, the realized they didn't.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first post on here, so I hope you enjoyed it.  
> CACW made me so angry. I'm still shooketh. This actually started as a diary entry for me when my "friends of opportunity" screwed me over, so I just tweaked some things and posted it here.


End file.
